


Louis and Arvol Drabbles

by Tynytyg



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-05-18 03:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5896753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tynytyg/pseuds/Tynytyg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So I was bored and I found a writing challenge/prompt list, and I decided that since I can't write other ppls characters (as proven by my occasional attempts to do so anyway) I should do the prompt thing with my own characters. So I'll post these as I get around to writing them lmao, if you've read my work "Six Hundred and Twenty Eight Years" this will probably make a helluva lot more sense, even though that's nowhere near finished. You'll get a better sense of who the characters are anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1. First Meeting (AU of choice)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna do a coffee shop au because I am trash and it makes me happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of the formatting may be a little weird or the html might be visible on this one, I've edited this chapter like twenty times and I'm too lazy to fix it oops

Arvol walked into the little coffee shop on the end of his street, the cute little door bell jingling. Oddly enough, he'd never been in here, even though he walked past the "FREE WIFI FIFTY CENT COFFEE 12-5" sign every day. He'd been curious about the weirdly familiar northeastern name above the door, which he could have sworn he'd heard somewhere before, but none of that had ever prompted him to go in until today.

The somewhat pastel flower motif of the shop was muted and kind of relaxing, mixed with the scent of baking and coffee, and the gentle sounds of a few patrons chatting in quiet voices, and the comfortable looking chairs scattered about, the generally calm air made Arvol curse himself for not discovering the place before finals week. As he walked in, a medium-toned masculine voice called from the back "I'll be right with you, please find a seat anywhere you like!" 

Arvol smiled a bit and went to a deeply cushioned blue chair by a window that looked incredibly comfortable. He unwound his scarf and took off his coat, draping them over the arm of the chair, and sat down, leaning back into the plush comfort of it and smiling in bliss. A man came out of the back, carrying a tray which he set on the counter. He dusted his hands off and came over to Arvol. The guy was of a bit more than average height, which meant Arvie would tower over him, were they both standing, and quite good looking. He had pale blonde hair and striking gray eyes, was somewhat slim but still managed to look nice in a red shirt and blue jeans and a flour dusted apron. The dark blue rag twisted in his hands was equally flour spotted and he had a warm smile on his face. "Hello, I'm Louis, can I get you anything~?" 

Arvol looked at the chalk boards lining one wall, ordered some seasonal pumpkin drink and the real reason he had come in here. A friend had recommended, in the strongest terms, the brownies from this shop. The man, Louis, nodded and then vanished towards what was apparently the kitchen again. Watching him go half involuntarily, a suspicion began to dawn in Arvol's mind. His friend was a meddler, and if she saw someone who was Arvol's type, which Louis most definitely was, she would usually figure out a way to put them in the same room. 

{Zaz did you do this on purpose?} 

{Do what 0:) ] 

{I'll take that as a yes -_-} 

{ ;P } 

He put his phone down as Louis returned with his drink and brownie. "Enjoy, the brownies just came out of the oven. They're our specialty~"

"Thank you very much, Louis." Arvol smiled back.

Louis seemed a little startled by Arvol's use of his name, but also flattered. He set the drink down on a coaster on the little table next to Arvol's chosen chair, and the brownie on its little plate next tot the drink, straightened, and went tot check on the other patrons. None of them seemed to need anything, so Louis went into his kitchen again. He returned a few moments later with another brownie and a mug, and came and sat in the green chair across from Arvol's, as-if-casually. 

"Hi~" Arvie waved, sipping his drink.

Louis smiled a bit, amused by the waving, and his 'amused' smile was much cuter than his 'greeting a customer' smile. "Hello."

"I didn't introduce myself yet, did I?" Arvol asked, as if suddenly realizing this fact. "I'm Arvol." He held out his hand, after carefully wiping the brownie crumbs off of it.

Louis shook it, smiling back. "And what brings you in here today, Arvol? Just passing by and thought you'd like a coffee?"

"Actually, not quite. I was recommended by a regular, Azazel Nachtrech is one of my best friends and she's constantly going on about the brownies here, and insisted that I come and try them."

"Ah. She certainly seems to like them, judging by how often she's here. I've started saving one for her from the afternoon rush."

"I'm sure she appreciates that, though her dentist doesn't." Arvol joked

Louis chuckled, "Don't mention that to her, if you value your life."

"No, no. I have a better sense of self preservation than that. I'm not saying anything. But she sent me in here, and I think now I'm hooked as badly as she is."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "I love the brownies, and the company is even better~"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Dunno, is it working~?"


	2. Waking up together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also AU because vampires don't actually sleep. So this is sorta a 'when they were younger' sorta thing. During all those years between the coming out ceremony and the start of the war. But also... with a bit more self-awareness.  
> \--also really short oops--

Arvol was a heavy sleeper. Louis knew that. His lover could probably sleep through a parade, or a court ball. Louis had actually witnessed the latter, once. The prince had found a tiny corner somewhere and curled up and gone to sleep. Caria had nearly died of sugar shock from how cute he was when they'd found him. Louis knew that Arvol was a very heavy sleeper, but this was getting ridiculous.

Come /on/ Arvol, we have placed ot be today!" Louis tugged at his arms. No response. "Are you dead? You're not allwed to die today, I have to give speeches in front of people and you are /not allowed/ to leave me alone. Do you hear me, Sunfire?" 

A tiny snicker came from the not-quite-sleeping blond curled up to Louis's side. 

"I knew you were awake. Get up."

"No," Arvol muttered sleepily, mouth against the skin of Louis's side, making him shiver slightly.

"Stop that and wake up, we have to go. If you're late, no big deal, you're the baby of the capital, but /I/ have obligations and am expected to show up on time."

"They'll live."

You have five seconds to get your stupid, nice ass out of bed before I physically push you out."

"You're weak, and you wouldn't dare harm the baby of the entire realm." Arvie smiled up at him sleepily

Louis made grumpy noises. "And to think, people assume you're a morning person."

"I /am/ a morning person. You're the grumpy one, and I like waking up to your face. So I like mornings. You're just all..." he unwound his arms and stretched his tall, lean body out, making a tiny pleasant noise at the feeling of stretched muscles. Like a cat. "All responsible. You act like you're my mom."

"Oedipus much? And anyway, you need six moms." Louis said, finally freed from the tangled embrace and standing, stretching a bit himself, then going looking for proper court clothes and a toothbrush. "Why do you never put anything away properly?" 

"I have you, and a bunch of servants, to do that for me~"

"You're horrible."

"You like it."

"...yeah," Louis admitted, smiling faintly, resigned to his fate. "Yeah I do.


	3. Morning Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This probs is also while they're still kids, but canonverse because I wanna do one of their things from the sleepovers Louis mentions a couple times lol

Waking Arvol up in the mornings was always the hard part, once he was awake, he was in constant motion. Ducking servants and men with schedules, dressing himself without his tailor there to advise him and before the schedule man told him how formal he should be for any given day, eating a breakfast pilfered directly from the kitchens while dancing down side corridors and humming to himself. The young prince was universally adored, but also made every member of the palace staff generally exasperated.

When he stayed the night at the Lefebvre mansion, however, there was no need for him to be sparkling with princely personality from the moment his feet hit the floor. Louis knew him better than anybody, and Arvol didn't have to pretend to be more cheerful than he was. This is not to say that he didn't still hum and grin and dress himself and generally make Louis's usually quiet morning life vibrantly miserable. As soon as he was awake, Arvol was chatting and smiling and cracking really bad jokes, and trying to fix Louis's hair without any of the things required to do so. 

Louis rolled out of bed twenty minutes after the first servant came to wake him and five before the second, and had relatively peaceful mornings most often. His breakfast was brought to his sitting room, where he would sit in pale morning sunlight and read over his appointments for the day while eating, then dress accordingly with the polite help of valets who took great pride in his impeccable appearance, and then set out to face the day with a reasonable amount of preparedness. 

He had no idea how that all became chaos with the addition of one bright young man, but for some reason it always did. Arvol never brought servants or valets with him, which made Louis's people nervous, because there was special training for those who served the king and his family. Louis had tried to tell the prince that on multiple occasions, but it had never seemed to sink in. Arvol was as independent of the proper system of behavior as Louis was embedded in it, and the disharmony caused frictions that only half-awake morning Louis would get irritated about. Normally, he was quite level-headed, but this was taking it way too far. "Arvol what the hell??" He demanded, glaring at his friend, who was sitting in Louis's open window, wearing only his trousers, and eating an apple while idly watching a few early risers on the street. 

"Whadda ya mean?" He asked through a mouthful, looking over in confusion

"What do you mean what do I mean! It is thirty minutes before I have to be awake, why is my window open, why are you here, and why aren't you wearing your clothes?" 

 

"Well, I've got answers for the first one and the last one. Your window's open because I'm sitting in it, and I'm not wearing a shirt because I didn't feel like it. As to why I'm here..." Arvol took another bite from his apple, "Couldn't tel ya."

Louis ground the heel of his hand into the space between his eyebrows. "It is too early for this." He declared.

Arvol grinned unrepentant. 

"Get out, or at least put on a shirt. People walk by this house, you know, and speculation about why you're hanging out my window half naked early in the morning is both unpleasant and unwelcome, thank you very much."

Arvol laughed and went to get a shirt. "As if they'd say anything." 

"That's just the trouble; they wouldn't. They'd just hold it against us both until the end of time. You know how nobles are. Gods, Arvol."

"There you go mothering me again~" He grinned

"I am not /mothering/ you, I am yelling at you for making stupid decisions."

"Yeah, mothering."

"It's too early for this." Louis repeated, drawing his duvet back up over his face. "Wake me when you're done being a dumbass. Oh wait, that will be never. Give me thirty minutes then."

"Rude." Arvol commented, then went blessedly silent for almost all of the requested half hour.


	4. Doing Laundry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My cute princely babs doing their own laundry? Only in a modern AU. Where, by the way, they would totally live together. I do not foreshadow my long story. That- that is my least favorite thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe so um I meant to write innocent fluff for all of these and then this happened, idk. Oops? It's the only reason this is rated T, so it's not that bad, I mean, everything's just sorta /heavily/ implied. So, y'know. A brief, tiny sin (it's actually rly short lmao), then back to adorable fluffy/angsty babs.   
> Sorry not sorry

Louis resented the sweaty workout shirt that was currently lying across his face, but her certainly didn't resent the lips on his neck or the hands on his wrists. "Ah- Arv- listen, we-" he tried to admonish, but coherent sentences became difficult when Arvol got like this.

"Come on Louis, we can take a break, can't we~?" Arvol practically purred, leaning up so that he could speak lowly into Louis's ear. 

"No- no we can't." Louis managed, trying to catch his breath. "You do this every weekend and we really need to finish the laundry this ti- ah- Arvol! I am really tired of wearing the same four shirts!" He planted a foot in his lover's chest and shoved him off, freeing his hands and finally pulling the shirt off his face.

Arvol was pouting, leaning up against the arm chair with his arms crossed and lower lip stuck out like a petulant child. 

"Arvie, come on, we have to." Louis wheedled. "I don't like waiting any more than you do."

"Harrumph." Arvol kept his eyes firmly on the ceiling. 

"After we're done with laundry...?"

"...After?"

"I promise."

"Fine, fine. But you're doing most of the work." 

Louis grinned a bit at that. "Don't I always~?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Arvol pretended to be scandalized, and Louis laughed.

"I was talking about the laundry, now whose mind is in the gutter?"

I- I mean, um-"

Louis laughed a bit more, and threw the workout shirt at his lover. "Put this in the colors pile, come on. The faster we get this done..." he left it there, and watched Arvol suddenly burst into productivity. He was always so industrious, given the right motivation.


	5. Night In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is also as kids because I wanna make a bit of fluffy angst for Louis's existential crises and Arvie's nightmares, tho I think I'll do that one for the 3 AM prompt. But this is Louis's crises, bc they needed to be addressed and I couldn't think of a way to do it in the actual storyline. Not a typical night in, but they've just gone to bed so I suppose it's close enough.

Louis stared a the ceiling, eyes and face blank. "Arvol?" He asked the darkness

A sleepy, semi-coherent grunt came from the other side of the bed. "Wha?" 

"I'm thinking too much again." 

"Stopp'at." Arvol muttered. Normally, that half-unconscious attempt to reassure Louis would've amused him enough to distract and derail his restless mind from its unhappy train of thought, but not tonight. Tonight the walls were opening up and letting the universe in, and the questions were creeping up. If he went to sleep, would everything be the same when he woke up? Would reality have fundamentally shifted? How many times had it already, and he just hadn't noticed? What really were senses, were they just sensations, and how did one even encounter sensation at all? Was any of it real?

"I can't." He said, voice clear.

Arvol was awake in a few seconds, rolling over and rubbing the sleep from his pretty blue eyes. "You okay?" He asked, a lot more aware, expression concerned adn gaze probing, trying to see how upset Louis was.

Louis couldn't make eye contact, just kept his eyes on the ceiling. "No."

"Alright. Ask me."

"I... it's not... you can't answer these. And I don't want to make you think about them too."

"I won't. If there's anything you know about me, it's my capacity for not thinking." Arvol offered him a lopsided grin and repeated, "So ask me. We can talk about it."

"..." 

"If you're not going to talk, I will, until you're ready." He took a breath and rolled over, scooting so that his side pressed against Louis's, a silent reassurance of his presence. If that hadn't been the problem, Louis would've felt comforted. He began to talk, voice soft as it rarely was in daylight. "It hasn't been this bad before, has it? Or if it has, you've been alone or didn't want to wake me up. Listen, if you ever get like this and I'm not here, honestly send somebody to get me, okay? That's what best friends do, help you when you need it most." That smile stayed, Louis saw from the corner of his eye, through the dark room. "So I'm going to assume you're thinking about the meaning of life or the reality of reality or something, so I'll just go through the ones you've asked before. Stop me when I get to the one you're stuck on now, okay? So I know what to talk about. Can you do that?"

Louis considered it, then nodded, turning the sense of hearing another voice over in his head, thinking about the possibility that his mind was fooling him, and Arvol was sleeping. 

"So... why are we here. Because the gods put us here. 'No Arvol, what are we supposed to be /doing/.' We're supposed to be worshiping them, and trying to live as best we can within our means and their laws and those of our land, and do our part to live up to our responsibilities. 'Alright, but are the gods really real?' I've met one, I can certainly tell you that they are. The coronation ceremony for the heir was and is very secret and very scary, and I won't repeat it, but the gods are definitely real. Have I hit anything yet?" Arvol sneaked a glance aside at Louis, who shook his head. "Alright, different tack. Are my senses lying to me, how do I know anything is real?"

"That."

"Ah, that one's simple." Arvol said, pleased. "You don't. You've just gotta trust. You've overthinking again. If you're going to jump from one stream bank to the other and you're running from something, you don't stop to think about the physics of every single muscle you move, you just do it."

"You don't think enough, Arvol. You can't just leap and hope you make it, you have to know how far you can jump and whether you'll reach the other side, or you'll wind up with wet feet."

"Not the point," He denied, "The act of jumping is an instinctive movement, you trust your muscles to do the jump. How far you get is irrelevant, you're going to jump. Right now, you're trying to think about the muscles in your legs, and how they work. You just don't know, so you've gotta accept that and trust that they will."

"I... I can't." Louis shook his head, voice strangled. 

"Alright," Arvol responded, voice even gentler. "Can you look at me?" 

"...yes." Louis turned his head to look. 

"Do I look like how I'm supposed to look?"

"What? Are you actually asking me how you look, right now?" Louis asked incredulously. He'd known his best friend was vain, but..

Arvol laughed a bit. "No, no, I'm asking you if I look like me. Your senses can't be that horribly off track if I still have the same face, right? The same voice?"

Louis considered that. "True. But... how do I know that's what you really look like?" 

"If this is how you see me, it's probably what I look like. You're one of the most honest people I know when it comes to telling me how I look." The lopsided grin returned

A weak smile crossed Louis's lips. "That's true. Even when you have ridiculous bedhead."

"Do I?" Arvol looked momentarily horrified, hands going to his hair self-consciously, and drawing a small chuckle out of Louis. The prince looked thoroughly pleased with himself at that. "Better?" 

"Louis nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Arvol." 

"No problem. It's what best friends are for, right? Scoot over." Arvol smiled and lifted the sheet to better accommodate a hug. Louis shifted into an easier position, faint smile growing slightly. He was enveloped in warmth as the sheet came down and a pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him tight to his best friend and being allowed to lie against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It felt like it was. "Don't think, just go to sleep. I'll keep the universe busy for a few hours yet." Arvol murmured into Louis's hair, and Louis relaxed almost unintentionally. 

"Thank you."

"You'd do the same for me. Go to sleep, Lou."

And he did.


	6. Nighttime Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern/college AUs give me life, and this doesn't need to be a long one anyway so.

Louis was sitting at his desk in the dorm room he shared with his asshole frat boy of a best friend, trying to study, when said friend stumbled in through the door at exactly fifteen minutes past one in the morning. Louis felt like a middle aged suburban mother as he swiveled in his desk chair to fix Arvol with a chilly glare. "Do you know what time it is?" 

"Yeah /Mom/," Arvol Answered, sounding like he was trying to be sassy but was slurring too much for Louis to be able to tell. "Like, one."

"And you're drunk."

Arvol flung a hand across his forehead in an attempt at a dramatic pose, flopping onto his bed. "Captain Obvious strikes again!"

"This is the fourth time this wee, Arvol. Is this gonna become the new routine? You stumble in at o-dark-thirty and I tuck you in and treat you like a child?" 

"Only if you keep acting like my mom."

"You need to study! You can't just goof off all the time. Look, I promised your /actual/ mom that I wouldn't let you get into too much trouble!"

"Shhhh Lou, I'm fantasizing. Quit talking about my mom."

Louis sighed. "Arvol, honestly, whatever you're thinking about-"

"It you." He said, suddenly sitting up and fixing Louis with an intense expression that could only be archived by someone truly inebriated. "It's you, I always end up thinking about you, and I like you a lot, like... like /that/ and..." he lolled back against his pillows. "And I really wish I could come over and kiss you but I can't really walk too well right now so you have to come over here."

Louis blushed suddenly. "Arvol, you're drunk. And you're trying to change the subject. Stop that." 

Arvol made kissing noises. Louis shook his head, got up, and pressed his friend into bed. "I loooooove you~" Arvol sang. 

"Sure you do." Louis said, sighing slightly while continuing to tuck his tall friend in, pulling off his shoes and tossing them aside, pulling his legs out straight and tugging his sheets up over him. "Go to sleep."

"Bedtime kisses?"

"Talk to me in the morning."

"Okayyy... goodnight Louis..."

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome, you brat." Louis smiled, patted his shoulder, and went off to the bathroom to get ready for bed.


	7. Shopping (For Needs)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern AUs because I mean really Arvol's a prince and Louis's a nobleman, neither of them have ever gone shopping for groceries ever.

"Milk, eggs... Arvol did you get the cereal?" Louis called

"Can we get Doritos?" Arvol answered from the next aisle over, unhelpfully. 

"No. Did you get the cereal?"

"How about ding-dongs? We never have any junk food and I'm tired of eating like some type of rabbit!" 

"Arvol Sunfire, answer my question." Louis demanded irritably, rounding the corner pushing his cart. 

"Gosh, okay, relax!" Arvol put his hands up in surrender. "I'll go get your cereal if you let me buy ding-dongs and Doritos."

"What is it with you and foods that start with D?" Louis realized he'd walked into the joke as soon as the question left his mouth. He interrupted Arvol's sh*t eating grin and comment with a firm "DOn't say it." 

"Aw, c'mon! That one was good!" He grinned

"It was lame, like all your jokes."

"You wound me. Put these in the cart and grab the rest of the stuff, I'll go /all the way/ back to the /other end of the store/," Arvol said dramatically, "To get your special overpriced white girl diet cereal." 

"There is literally nothing wrong with caring about your health." Louis defended evenly

"Nothing at all, of course. You just eat like a teenage girl who goes to a rich kid school."

"Need I remind you that I used to /be/ a teenager who went to a rich kid school? As were you, so hush."

Arvol's trademarked unrepentant grin appeared, then he ran off like a little kid to go get the cereal. Louis shook his head, laughing a little at his favorite overgrown child. He pushed the cart towards the frozen foods aisle. That boy could eat Eggo waffles faster than anybody Louis had ever met...


	8. Exercising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern AU. I feel like Arvol would be the 'awake at dawn for a run' type and Louis would be much more of an 'exercising is for after breakfast or not at all' kind of person.

Louis woke up to an empty bed across the dorm room from his own, as usual. He made a frustrated noise and went to start breakfast in the small kitchen he shared with his stupidly athletic morning person roommate, who inevitably came back from his morning run clamoring for food. As the eggs ere starting to smell palatable, Arvol tumbled into the room, bashing into the door frame on his way. 

"Good morning~!" He caroled brightly, grabbing a towel and wiping off his face. Honestly, for someone as graceful and coordinated as Arvol could be, he was awfully clumsy. 

Louis waved a hand in his general direction, concentrating on not burning anything or letting the sleeves of his bath robe touch the stove top or the food.

"Are you cooking half asleep again?" Arvol walked up and prodded Louis with his towel

Louis wrinkled his nose at the offensive odor of exercise, and gave Arvol a side-eyed glare. "No." 

"Really? Because it looks like it. You gonna come finish my run with me after breakfast because you're the best roommate ever?" 

"You really can't talk to that cute girl without someone standing around to keep you from being a dumbass, can you?" Louis asked him, sounding more irritated than he really was. "As pretty as you are, people assume that you've got at least a little game, you know?"

"Nope, I really can't, and I really don't. Plus, you need the exercise if you wanna keep from looking like you only sit and study and eat junk food, which you do."

"There's nothing wrong with studying, Sunfire, and you're going to flunk out if you don't start soon. Final are next week."

"Finals are not my problem. Are those scrambled eggs, because if they are I love you." 

Louis, by now accustomed to these declarations, nodded. "They are."

Arvol's face lit up and he pressed an enthusiastic kiss to Louis's cheek, then wandered over tot he table. After feeding the excitable blond, Louis wandered back into his bedroom and pulled on workout clothes, reluctantly grabbing his phone and headphones because he knew that he'd be left behind at some point. He returned to the common room to find Arvol bouncing up and down and doing a few stretches. With a little sigh, Louis resigned himself to an actual workout before his early class.


	9. Wearing Each Other's Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the most important thing okay omg Arvol would actually die. For once, I'm writing one of these from Arvol's pov, because as much as I love writing Louis, the sunshine child deserves some love too. ALSO IT TURNED INTO A CONFESSION STORY AND I DIDN'T MEAN FOR IT TO BUT IT DID AND I'M NOT SORRY

Arvol usually didn't have any problems handling his major crush on his roommate and best friend. He kept his eyes and hands and comments to himself,and it was as simple as that. Bust some days, he became convinced that the gods were trying his patience. 

When Arvol walked back into the apartmet they shared, he found Louis lying in the floor with a pen between his teeth, wearing jeans that should definitely be against the house rules, and, most damning, /Arvol's/ team shirt. It had his name and cap number printed on the back in large letters, in National Day water polo team blue and gold. Loui's knees were bend and ankles crossed, lying on his stomach with a book in front of him, studying. He was also toying with the pen in his mouth, nibbling on one end in concentration, reading glasses ("like an old man!" Arvol had mocked when Louis bought them) perched precariously on the end of his nose. 

The urge to reach down and push them back up, and maybe leave a kiss on the top of his roommate's head, was incredibly strong, as was the urge to demand the shirt back right now immediately. "Lou?" Arvol asked, voice sounding much steadier than he felt. 

Louis looked up, coming aware of his surroundings and fixing his glasses with a self-conscious smile. "Oh, Arvol. You're back." 

"Why don't you sound happy to see me~?" Arvol asked, pretending everything was normal and he wasn't thinking about pinning his childhood best friend to the floor with kisses. 

"Oh, it's just much quieter when you're not around." Louis responded flippantly, apparently willing to play along. 

"And you're wearing my shirt." Arvol pointed out. 

Louis glanced down at it, coloring slightly. "Ah, yeah. I was doing laundry, and it was one of the only clean things in the apartment..." he trailed off at Arvol's slightly raised eyebrow, the color on his cheeks growing. 

Arvol laughed a bit, breaking the uncomfortable tension in the room. "Seven hells Lou, it's /fine/. We've known each other since we were born, and the gods only know I've stolen enough of your stuff." An idea came to Arvol, and he grinned. "Keep it, it suits you~"

Louis gave him squinty eyes. "Arvol Sunfire did you just quote Star Wars to me?" 

"Maybe~" His grin grew

"I knew I should never have taken you to see it. I should've made Zaz do it, so you'd direct your lame pickup lines to /her/." Louis deadpanned, trying to pretend he wasn't laughing behind his eyes. 

"I would never." He denied dramatically. "My heart belongs only to you~!" Oops, that tone had a hint too much truth in it. After so many years of association, they could both read each other like an open book. Louis's eyes widened perceptibly. 

"Arvol? Was that... a confession?" He asked very carefully

"Um... it depends?" Arvol tried. "On whether you'd accept? Because if you wouldn't, it was just a stupid joke."

"And if I would?" 

"Then yeah... it was."

Louis's warm smile was the best thing Arvol had seen all week. "Then yes, I like you too. Like that." He stumbled a bit, red creeping into his cheeks.

Arvol laughed a bit, caught in the surprised delight of the moment, rushing over to bend down and scoop Louis up to his feet. "We are the most awkward people in the world, honestly." 

Louis grinned back at him, wrapping his arms around Arvol's shoulders. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	10. Nursing the Sick One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> K I want sweet fluff and I want sick Louis so here we are.

Louis was sick. He had a 103 degree fever and he was certainly suffering, bundled up in a blanket and shivering, a growing pile of tissues in the floor next to his bed and a bottle of liquid flu remedy that tasted like 'grape' half empty on the table. He'd tried to read, and found himself unable to focus enough on the words. Louis was bored, and sick, and hating it. 

Arvol came back to their apartment after his last class of the day, feeling accomplished and up-beat, ready to find his roommate and maybe play some Mario Kart before going running, they maybe talk Louis into takeout for once in their miserable diet-food-filled lives. Honestly, though, Arvol thought he might scream if he saw one more graphic depicting the proper dietary needs of athletes at his weight and activity level. This was what he got for dating a medieval lit student who was minoring in nutrition and writing a dissertation paper on the effects of malnutrition in medieval Europe. 

Ar the lack of loudly playing Peryn songs ("Honestly Louis, how cliche is your taste in music?" Arvol had asked on multiple occasions) Arvol was tipped off to something weird. Louis was always studying this time of day, and he claimed to need his typical pop music to concentrate. Further; the apartment wasn't anywhere near as clean as it should've been, Louis was obsessively tidy and he'd been home for hours. Also, Arvol reasoned, he couldn't have made this much of a mess by himself last night. 

So something was obviously up. Scouting for clues had Arvol compulsively tidying the trail of used tissues leading from the kitchen table, open books littering it, to the kitchen toast crumbs and an empty milk glass on the counter, to the couch, where a great proliferation of the tissues had accumulated, and a book lay propped open on the coffee table. One of Louis's cheesy romance novels, apparently. Following the tissues again, Arvol came to the closed door of his bedroom which he supposed he should really call /theirs/. The room that had originally been assigned to Louis was becoming more and more of a study-cum-guest bedroom than any place Louis usually slept lately. 

"Louis? Can I come in?" Arvol asked, tapping on the door. He'd discovered the consequences of not knocking a few weeks ago, when he'd interrupted a serious study session and Louis had been mad for almost three hours. An apartment record for them, according to Ren and Orchid, their cross-hall neighbors. 

"Uncleeeeaaan," came the weak-voiced reply. "Stay back, a terrible disease has been inflicted upon the poor wretch within, as penance for his sins against the study gods. Unless thou wisht the same fate upon yourself, stay back, in the name of pre-annotated text books!"

Louis was loopy enough to be speaking in archaisms, which meant one of a few things. 1) Haley had been by, and they'd had some weed, in which case Arvol was mad because Louis had said he'd quit. 2) Louis had a r e a l l y bad day and decided to get drunk, which was unlikely because Louis only had bad days that epic about once a year, and it'd already happened. 3) Louis was sick, and running a high fever, or had overdosed himself with the cough medicine. That'd happened a couple of times, producing some really hilarious results. It also seemed quite likely, due to the contents of Louis's 'warning'. In case of the third, Arvol readied his camera. 

"I'm coming in, don't be naked." He opened the door. 

Louis was bundled up in many many layers of cuddly blankets, and visibly shaking. A mostly empty box of tissues sat beside him, and a growing pile of used ones littered the floor. He was sweating, and his nose and eyes were red. His pale skin was flushed, and he looked thoroughly miserable. Arvol was hit with a wave of pity for his boyfriend, and put the phone away. "Aw, Lou, are you okay?" 

"No, I've got the plague..." his voice was kinda scratchy. 

"Well, let's work on that, okay?" 

"Hmmm." Louis hummed agreeably, eyes shutting. 

"Alright, let's start with these." Arvol swept all of the used tissues into his trashcan, and carried it into the kitchen, dumping it into the bigger trashcan there. He grabbed a box of the nice aloe tissues from the cabinet where they kept them on his way back, and set the box down beside Louis, whisking away the harsher ones. "Next..." He pulled all the blankets and sheets away, receiving a whimper and some grabby hands for his efforts. 

Louis was apparently at least lucid enough to know that Arvol was trying to help. That was something. Arvol discarded all the sweatiest and dampest blankets, and shook the rest out one at a time. Then, starting with the lightest and softest, he carefully folded his sleepily protesting boyfriend into them. "No Arvie- if you make me a burrito I can't-"

"You don't have to take care of me right now, Louis. Right now I'm taking care of you." Arvol told him in a gentle voice, smiling, and continuing to wrap. After about four layers, Louis's shivering decreased a little. His fingertips, still exposed, folded over the top edge of his blanket nest, right by his chin. "Cute." Arvol pressed a tentative kiss to the top of Louis's head, then took the rest of the blankets out to the laundry pile. 

Returning to the roo, Arvol turned on the fan and opened the blinds, letting in a little light and getting the air circulating. He adjusted Louis's pillows for him and eased him back onto them, then walked back out to the kitchen to make some tea. He took the bottle of medicine with him when he went, and left the thermometer in Louis's mouth. 

A little later, he replaced the thermometer with the tea, which Louis had just enough finger length poking out of the blankets to drink at hi sown pace, and checked his boyfriend's temperature. His fever was 101 degrees, so Arvie called Sylvia, who was in pre-med. 

"Arvol, I'm just a psyche and development major, I'm just taking some pre-med classes because they happen to be supplemental. If you want a professional opinion, call a doctor! Or Dal." 

"You know Orchid wouldn't give me Dal's number, so unless you're going to, I don't have it." Arvol protested. 

"020-776-8956, and don't pester him." 

"I never pester anybody ever!" He went scrambling for a notepad and pen, still protesting. 

"Right." She replied, with the level of sincerity that claim deserved. "I'll see you in class, bye you dork. Tell Lou I hope he gets better." 

"Will do, bye Syl." She hung up, and Arvol dialed the number she'd given him. 

After a few rings, a bright voice answered. "Hello, you've reached Daedalus Ichmin, how may I help you~?" It chirped politely

"Hello, it's me." Arvol responded, smiling at his friend's enthusiastic answer. 

"Oh, hey Arvie." He sounded slightly disappointed. "What'd you need? And how did you get my number??" 

"Why don't you sound happy to hear from me~?" Arvol teased, amused. Dal'd probably been waiting for a call from that pretty Nightish boy he and Syl had been talking up. "Louis's sick so I called Syl, she gave it to me. He's got a 101 degree fever and I need an opinion. Do I take him to the doctor's or should he just live through it?"

"How long?"

"Probably about this morning, I left at nine and he was fine then. According to this note I found, it's gone down," Arvol fumbled with the notepad Louis had written on and left in the kitchen, noticed just a few seconds ago. "He said it was 103 degrees earlier. I'll check him again in a little while."

"Alright, 103 is worrying but if it's still going down when you check later, it's probably just a cold, and he'll have to take some ibuprofen and live through it. Otherwise, yeah, it's probably the flu, run him by a doctor. Now get off, I'm wating for a call." Dal ordered, the smile in his tone lessening the bite. 

"Love you too honey, don't stay out too late drinking with the boys." Arvol teased

Dal laughed, and clicked off the line. Arvie set down his phone and returned to the room, to find Louis sleeping, propped up on the pillows and fingers curled loosely around the dangerously tipping half-full tea cup. He rescued the cup from Louis's hands gently, setting it on the bedside table, and managed to shift Lou into a more comfortable reclining position. Louis made a cute sleepy noise that he would've been mortified about, were he awake, and Arvol smiled at him with an entirely gross amount of fondness. "I love you." He whispered, pressing a tiny kiss to Louis's temple. 

He received a hum in reply, and managed to also fit himself on the bed and snuggle up to his nested boyfriend, enjoying the warmth. It didn't take him too long to join Louis in dreamland, where nobody ever got sick, and cuddles and kisses were always. The two cuddled, small smiles on their faces, and slept peacefully for hours.


	11. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha okay Arvol is a vain baby and Louis honestly has better things to do with his time. College is my favorite place to put these boys idk it just makes for so many good opportunities. It's between being controlled by parents and having a job so. I should probably just admit that this entire writing challenge is just a glorified excuse for me to write a college au and procrastinate writing the actual long work. oops.   
> \--oh and this one's rated t especially because Louis has a potty mouth for like two words--

Arvol rolled out of the bed across the room from Louis every morning at promptly 5:30, dressed not nearly quietly enough, and took off. After knowing the obnoxiously athletic morning person for most of his life, Louis had figured out that Arvol liked to run early, before anyone else was awake. His reason for this was particularly petty, but his coaches didn't care what his reason was, just that he was always in excellent shape. 

He went running very early because he didn't want anybody to see him looking less than perfect. Louis had, on multiple occasions, poked fun at Arvol's vanity, but as it was one of his less irritating traits, Louis mostly left him alone about it. Arvol would return too the dorm room around six thirty, clamoring to be fed, and depending on his mood Louis would either humor him or tell him to fuck off. The next hour and a half were spent "making myself presentable, you wouldn't understand, you're a hermit who's never going to get a date."

Louis would resent that comment, but it looked pretty accurate from where he stood. Leaning on his desk and watching his vain best friend fiddle with his hair, Louis considered his life choices. /Of all the people to fall in love with.../ he chuckled softly at himself, shook his head, and turned to bis books. Medieval literature wasn't an easy major by any stretch of the imagination, and there was that big test coming up...

"Louis, what in the name of all the gods is up with your hair?" Arvol asked some time later, startling Louis out of his reverie. Chaucer always did make him focus to the exclusion of all else.

"What do you mean what's up with my hair?"

"When was the last time you got it cut or actually did something with it?"

"Hells Arvol, you were there the last time I went to that Sports Clips in town, you were trying to talk me out of it, remember? Is there a point?" Louis asked, almost absently, jotting down a note into his spiral before he could forget it.

"You're getting shaggy, Lou~" Arvol teased, twirling a longish strand between his fingers, "if you're gonna have long hair, you've gotta do something about styling it."

Louis rolled his eyes. "Bother doing something with it, it takes too much time and effort."

"Yes but all that time and effort is /worth/ it because you then look less like a hobo or a canine and more like a human being," Arvol reasoned, tone and eyes amused but fond.

"Rude." Louis commented, not really listening. He rally had to get through the end of that Canterbury Tales assignment before next week, because that test wasn't going to ace itself.

Arvol prodded Louis with a hard finger, in the shoulder. "You're tuning me out, stop that," he whined. "We've gotta do something about this."

"Then you do something, I have to read this."

Arvol was clearly pouting, but he went off in a huff to get his seemingly endless bottles of hair supplies. Louis resigned himself to an hour or so of his roommate tugging at his hair and complaining before declaring him hopeless and wandering off to find other entertainments. That was how it usually worked when Arvol got in such moods, anyway. 

Louis re-focused on his book, ignoring the huffing and clattering that accompanied Arvol's setup process. A few seconds later, his hair was being brushed from its mild nighttime tangles, and the gentle soothing sensation was almost hypnotic. For some unknowable reason, it helped his concentration. 

About an hour and a half of brushing and spraying and oiling and styling later, Arvol made a self-satisfied sound in the back of his throat and shoved a mirror between Louis and his book. Slightly irritated at the breaking of his focus, Louis looked. He'd been expecting a slightly modified version of his usual shaggy and loose style, but that was certainly not what he saw. Arvol had done something to make it fall back neatly behind his ears, look smooth, and accentuate the silvery highlights in the ash blond. It even made his gray eyes look almost like a color. "Woah," Louis managed eloquently.

"Amazing what just a little effort can do, right~?" Something about that tone of voice was a definite danger sign. 

"Arvol, are you trying to tell me something?" Louis asked, suddenly catching on and looking over his shoulder, finally taking note of Arvol's new haircut.

"Who, me? Being subtle? I could never." 

Louis winced slightly. He'd made a joke about Arvol's lack of subtlety a week and a half ago and hadn't lived it down yet. "I like your haircut, Arvol," he said dutifully.

"Why thank you Louis, I'm so glad you noticed!" The sarcasm dripping from the tone made Louis sign a little bit. He just knew he wasn't going to get any peace for months.


	12. Coffee and/or Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm combining this one with the OTP question/prompt thing that's like "which one orders the venti soy gluten free mocha latte from Starbucks and which one brews a pot of coffee and sticks a straw in it?"  
> Also, I'm finally adding some of their other friends, most of whom haven't even turned up in the actual work yet, but I promise they will when I finally get around to posting the next chapter.

"You know," Orchid commented in an amused voice, "the kind of coffee a guy drinks says a lot about him." Li poked his arm until he added in a mildly put-upon voice, "Li says." They looked satisfied at that, and went back to walking along quietly.

Arvol grinned, sipping his fancy mocha latte. "Of course, I'm an absolute delight, and Louis is bitter and sad. We knew that already~!"

Louis favored him with a glare as he sipped his black coffee straight from the pot through a neon pink bendy straw, and pointed out, "Arvol, you spend thirty dollars a week on coffee."

"Ah, but it's a thirty dollars I /have/ to spend, and I mean that both ways~"

Orchid, poor all his life, groaned dramatically, leaning on Li's shoulder. "Stop rubbing it in, rich boy, some of us are actually broke college scholarship students."

Li shoved him off and made a series of quick hand gestures, at which Orchid laughed and gently shoved them. "Rude, but true."

"What did they say?" Arvol asked in the tone of one preparing for a blow to his dignity

"Nothing," Orchid covered quickly, but his shit eating grin said otherwise.

Arvol side-eyed him suspiciously but let it drop, returning to talking to Louis. "Besides, it's a small price to pay for alertness and a lack of horrifying bitterness. I have no idea how you drink that stuff." He made a face at Louis's coffee pot.

Louis shrugged. "You pull a couple of all-nighters reading the Canterbury Tales until you go cross-eyed and writing ad nauseum about the symbolism of each of Arthur's individual actions and you'll see the light soon enough."

Arvol shuddered. "Do you know what my coach would do to me if I genuinely stayed up all night? Hells, Nate and Austin would drown me for giggles if they thought they could get away with it without getting pegged in the back of the head next time coach wasn't looking.

"The company you keep, Arvie, honestly. Nate and Austin are such... frat boys." Orchid commented, slight distaste in his tone. Li made a few tired looking signs and Orchid laughed again. "Right? Li says the idiots come around the coffee shop so Nate an flirt with them and if that's not obnoxious frat boy behavior, I don't know what is."

"They haven't quit that?" Arvol asked Li, looking a bit concerned. At Li's negative head shake, Arvol sighed. "I'll get on their cases about it again, sorry. You'd think as the captain of this team I'd have at least a little influence on them... Shit, speak of the devils."

A pair of guys in basketball shorts and matching neon 'suns out guns out' muscle shirts rounded the corner of the nearest building. Nate, a red-haired southerner of just over average height for his genetics, which was short by day standards, was carrying a coffee cup and a bag from the local bakery, talking animatedly to Austin, a shorter than average dayish boy with a mop of brown curls held up out of his eyes by a sloppily attached headband carrying his own tea, and sloshing his drink dangerously. "-Then she literally- oh, hey captain!" Nate stopped mid-story to hail Arvol.

Li signed to Orchid, who nodded. "That's our cue to head out then, see ya Arvie."

He waved, "Yeah, see you two around. Run, I'll hold them off," he added with a grin. Louis rolled his eyes at the lot of them, sipping from his bendy straw. Nate and Austin weren't really that bad, just completely oblivious. If Li and Orchid would tell them to their faces to back off, they probably would. Then, if they didn't, Arvol would at least have enough reason to threaten their starter spots on the team, which would cut the offensive behavior off in short order. 

"Louis, dude, is that your coffee pot?" Austin asked, breaking Louis's train of thought as the two pairs of boys drew alongside one another.

Louis nodded laconically. "Yup."

"Hardcore." Austin breathed, looking a little starry-eyed. Louis had to admit he found it kind of flattering. "I don't even drink coffee and dude."

"And here's our beloved captain and his white girl drink," Nate cut in, grinning at the opportunity to make fun. "What's that, a venti soy gluten free mocha latte~?" He teased, clearly trying to think of the most ridiculous drink he knew. 

Arvol laughed, delighted. "Actually yeah, exactly~! And plus, life's too short to be ashamed of my coffee. Don't be a dick."

"He's got a point." Austin agreed.

"Whose side are you even on bro?" Nate asked, feigning hurt. Louis sighed internally, amused. Apparently Arvol's flair for the dramatic had rubbed off on his already excitable teammates.

Austin grabbed Nate's hand in a sweeping gesture of loyalty, dropping to a knee and denouncing in a voice loud enough for the whole quad to glance in their direction, "I'm yours bro, until the end!"

Arvol mimed wiping tears away with his free hand, then handed Louis his cup and clapped enthusiastically for the performance. They all pretended seriousness for a moment more, then dissolved into laughter, various drinks sloshing in their mirth.


End file.
